Vasco 3 Posted August 9, 2009 (edited) Mein Herren! Please find below the daily report covering Jasta 4 operations for the 10th February 1917: Mission 1 - Patrol of own front lines in the Flanders Sector - T/O 09:59 Piloten Sitting Duck - A Flt Commander Griphos Axgrinder Willy Coppit aka SRC von Baur von Dudley A Flight (named above) executed a patrol of friendly lines on a 20 mile front east of the town of Arras. During the flight, one section of enemy reconnaisannce aircraft were detected heading west towards Arras at approximately 1200 metres altitude. Both aircraft were engaged and identified as BE2cs of the RFC. Griphos was seen to down one of the aircraft (confirmed by Axgrinder) but the second aircraft escaped over the lines. The flight commander decided not to pursue into enemy territory. The whole flight landed without incident. Mission 2 - Strike on Ercheu Airbase - T/O 14:52 Piloten von Dudley - A Flt Commander Axgrinder Willy Coppit aka SRC von Baur Sitting Duck A Flight were tasked with the airfield strike with B Flight executing a fighter sweep ahead of the attack force. The Jasta crossed the lines just south of Arras then performed a dogleg towards the target. Shortly before the turn, several aircraft were spotted ahead of A Flight, which were identified as B Flight and approximately 7 FE2Bs of the RFC. The flight commander ordered A Flight to assist B Flight and a general attack ensued. During the fight the following flight members all accounted for one of the F2Bs each (visual confirmation obtained from various flight memebrs): Axgrinder, Sitting Duck and von Baur. A flight then reformed and proceded to the target. Several attack runs were performed by the flight in pairs, all concentrating fire on the westerly of the aircraft hangars. During the attack Axgrinder and von Dudley both took groundfire hits with von Dudley recieving the worst of it with a ruptured fuel tank and damaged engine. With the majority of the fights ammunition exhausted, the flight commander signalled the flight to RTB while he nursed his own damaged aircraft back towards the lines with two other members of the flight as escort. The flight arrived back at Mont Saint Martin individually with von Dudley managing to land successfully. Unfortunatley the same could not be said for Sitting Duck who stalled just before touchdown and crashed his plane at the edge of the airfield. According to Axgrinder, Sitting Duck was seen to emerge from the wreckage and proceed across the aircraft to the Jasta mess, giving the rest of the flight the middle finger whilst doing so. The Jasta commander decided disciplinary action was not called for as the Jasta had only just taken delivery of the new Albatross fighter and very few of the pilots had more than 4 hours each on the type. His performance in future missions will be scrutinised and if found wanting, this pilot will be allocated one of the remaining Halberstadt fighters remaining in the Jasta. Submitted respectfully on 10th February 1917, Vasco Commanding Officer Jasta 4 Edited August 9, 2009 by Vasco Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axgrinder 0 Posted August 10, 2009 Yea, that Duck, you need to watch him! Could cause moral problems. LOL Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stumpjumper 3 Posted August 10, 2009 geesh i miss a fluight because of wor and allof a sudden the laws of nature go crappy who who ever heard of a duck that coulndt land Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axgrinder 0 Posted August 10, 2009 geesh i miss a fluight because of wor and allof a sudden the laws of nature go crappy who who ever heard of a duck that coulndt land Not our Duck - we all know He's a freak of nature! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sitting_duck 3 Posted August 10, 2009 Too much peanut butter on the throttle,,,it stuck closed.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themightysrc 5 Posted August 10, 2009 (edited) Hi Vasco, I'd just like to mention that I was also getting peppered over the airfield, if the engine sound was anything to go by - ie, it sounded like a bag of nails. Made it back though, so I suppose it couldn't have been that serious. It was great fun, and with a more structured setup rather better from my POV than the previous week. My apologies to those who had to suffer me a the worst flight leader ever - damn you all for voting me to be *it*. Next time, I'll be a bit better organised, I promise! Here's to next week and, I hope, even more players. Cheers, Si Edited August 10, 2009 by themightysrc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Axgrinder 0 Posted August 10, 2009 I still think your mechanic needs to be transfered Simon. That crate of your was flying like a snail! And boy did you ever get the worst of the ground fire when you and I went or our straffing run! We'll get em' next time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themightysrc 5 Posted August 11, 2009 Hi Ax, Yes it was a wee bit distressing to be flying the runt of the litter - I threw out my lucky rabbit's foot, lucky horseshoe, lucky heather, lucky reinforced jodhpurs and one of the Spandaus, but the bugger still ran like a Morris Minor. On the bright side, even after the Tommies had taken out half the cylinders and clattered the rest of the motor, it still ran at much the same speed! Rewengie vill be mine!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
